Exploring alternatives to constantly buying new crap

Afer reading about it online, this weekend I signed up for the Citizen Muscle Boot Camp a.k.a the Story of Stuff Project. Over the past year and a half I’ve learned a lot about being greener individual in my day-to-day life, but it may be time to branch out and see if I can influence others also. That’s one of the reasons I started this blog, but there are surely ways I can be more effective.

Week one of the four-week camp is about definining your purpose.

“After all, you’re not doing this because you ought to, you’re doing it because you have to. It’s your purpose.”

The first practice to gain insight into my purpose was to fill in the blanks for the following statements.

I frequently have friends say to me: You are SO… smart

If I could work for free, I would spend my time: sharing real food

If I made a how-to video on YouTube it would be on: upcycling projects

When my friends need help, I am their go-to person for: foosball

If I submitted myself in a talent contest, it would be for: organizing

Growing up, I dreamed I would be: a writer

I totally lose track of time (in a good way) when I am: reading

You can definitely see how unfocused I am. There isn’t really anything I could think of to answer those questions as standing out and defining who I am. So the rest of this week’s training was super helpful as section-by-section it helped narrow down what’s really important to me.

There was one other question that made me think, though.

Question: You were just given law-making powers and can instantly pass one piece of national legislation. What kind of law would you create?

Answer: I would create a national soda tax.

I didn’t have to think to come up with an answer. What made me think was just the fact that I came up with the answer so quickly, like it had already been on the tip of my tongue. A soda tax has little to do with my environmental concerns (other than that soda is wasteful since it doesn’t provide nutritional value and they are frequently served in single-use disposable bottles or cups). However, it’s very concerning that soda is the beverage of choice for many people during meals. It’s harmful to people’s health, and one of the big reasons it’s so prevalent in our society is that soda is so damn cheap.

Anyhow, in the end after weighing many of the things that are important to me I came up with the following purpose statement.

My purpose is to use my organization and writing skills to conserve our resources by reinforcing people’s natural inclinations for thrift and promoting less-waste alternatives.

It could still use a bit of work, but it feels good to have a single statement to center me and help direct my energy.

Are you also interested in creating change? Take the quiz to find out what kind of a changemaker you are, and then sign up for the online training at the Story of Stuff Project.